1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gaming machine equipped with a display device in front of a variable display device that is capable of showing a plurality of symbols.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, a gaming machine has been proposed which includes a variable display device (First Display Device) that is capable of showing a plurality of symbols, another display device (Second Display Device: Front Display Device) disposed in front of the variable display device, wherein the symbols on the first display device can be seen through the second display device together with the contents shown on the second display device, during the gaming. For instance, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-252394 discloses a gaming machine that includes a reel display device and a front display device, which is comprised of a transmission type liquid crystal display device or a transmission EL panel. The gaming machine further includes an illumination device disposed on the front display device at a rear side thereof for illuminating the front display device, and a semi-transmission reflection plate. A light, emitted from the illumination device and reflected at the semi-transmission reflection plate, reaches to an area in front of the front display device to be viewable by a player.
With the gaming machine set forth above, the semi-transmission reflection plate has an area, through which the reel display device can be viewed from a front side of the front display device. Therefore, a portion of the light, emitted from the illumination device, forms a leaked light that transmits through the semi-transmission reflection plate to reach outer peripheries of reels of the reel display device whereby reflections, resulting from the leaked light, appear on the outer peripheries of the reels. For this reason, when viewing the outer peripheries of the reels from the front side of the front display device, such reflections become cumbersome with the resultant issue of a difficulty in viewing the symbols.
In recent years, with the gaming machine of such a type, for increasing a diversity and freedom on effects, it is frequently probable for the front display device to execute the effects of gaming, and the front display device getting play an important role in these days. Further, there is a request for the front display to be largely sized. However, in order for a screen size of the front display device to be largely sized, a need arises for an intensity of a light, emitted from the illumination device, to be increased so as to increase the light intensity arriving at the front area and, when attempting to increase the screen size, the above-described reflections result in a further marked issue.